This will be a ribbon cutting like no other.

On Thursday afternoon, the CEO of the world’s biggest Italian food stores will cut the ribbon of inauguration – made of pasta, of course – and open the doors of Eataly Silicon Valley to what are expected to be hundreds of Italophiles lined up to Westfield Valley Fair Trade.

Inside this three-story, 45,000 square foot culinary palace, shoppers and diners will find a market offering 10,000 fresh and packaged foods (pasta, cheese, salumi, olive oil, sauces, gelato, wine , espresso and more); meat, seafood and fresh fruit and vegetable counters; two restaurants, several cafés, counters and bakeries; and a 1,200-bottle cellar and tasting room.

It’s Northern California’s first Eataly, and a coup for the Santa Clara/San Jose mall, which is about to complete a billion-dollar expansion.

Eataly was founded in Turin, Italy in 2007 by Oscar Farinetti, who first made a name for himself with a chain of consumer electronics stores before drawing inspiration from the markets of Istanbul, London and of Barcelona to turn to food. He originally planned to name the business “Eat Italy” and then decided to go with the portmanteau. He and his son Nicola, now CEO, have spread the joy of cooking and eating Italian cuisine around the world, with 41 establishments worldwide. It is the eighth in the United States.

The “buy, eat, learn” concept of the market hall informs the offer and the layout. Show kitchens and “production labs” abound. Each dish is prepared with ingredients that can be purchased locally for home enjoyment. Coming soon: Cookery classes and specialty dinners.

“You’ll see artisan products, you’ll see talent, you’ll see the action involved in producing and presenting food,” Raffaele Piarulli, chief operating officer of Eataly North America, told the Bay Area News Group. “Our kitchens will be visible. You will see how we make pasta, how we make bread.

True to their promise made when the project was announced in 2019, Eataly executives have partnered with a number of northern California suppliers, including Cream Co. Meats, Green Bee Farm and Straus Family Creamery.

Here is an overview of what Eataly offers:

Opening day: Yes, expect lines. “We always feel a lot of excitement from the community around the store on opening day, and that excitement translates into people wanting to be the first to experience the store,” a spokeswoman said. Eatally. Speeches by local dignitaries and Eataly executives will begin Thursday at 1:30 p.m.

Beginning at 5 p.m., guests may enter through Valley Fair’s exterior restaurant plaza entrance. (There’s a giveaway for the first 100 people in line.) On Friday, Eataly will open more entries but will closely monitor crowds.

First floor: The take-out restaurants are located on the ground floor, allowing customers easy access from the mall to Pizza alla Pala, with its flat pizzas made with stone-ground Piedmontese flour and cooked on paddles; Caffe Lavazza, the Turinese espresso specialist serving glasses of bicerin (espresso, hot chocolate, whipped milk) and other coffee drinks; La Gastronomia, with take-out meals and pizza slices; La Pasticceria, with cannoli and tiramisu; and Il Gelato, with artisanal flavors made on site.

Second floor: This floor is devoted to Eataly Vino, with 1,200 wines representing the 20 Italian wine regions, from the upper Aosta Valley in the northwest to Calabria and Sicily in the south. Wine education classes will take place at La Scuola.

Third floor: This 30,000 square foot floor is home to the two seated restaurants – the rooftop TERRA and La Pizza & La Pasta, both with bars – as well as the cool counters, demo labs and this 10,000 product market. Reservations for TERRA are full, but seats at La Pizza & La Pasta may be available.

Times/details: Open every day with variable service hours. First floor: Caffe Lavazza and La Pasticceria, from 8:30 a.m. to 9 p.m. Pizza Alla Pala, La Gastronomia and Il Gelato, from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Second floor: Cellar, 8:30 a.m. to 9 p.m. Third floor: Eataly Market has the longest hours, 8:30am to 10:00pm most nights, until 11:00pm Friday to Saturday. Cool counters, from 8:30 a.m. to 8 p.m. Restaurants: Terra, from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. most evenings, until 9:30 p.m. Friday to Saturday. La Pizza & La Pasta, from 11:30 a.m. to 9 p.m. most evenings, until 9:30 p.m. Friday to Saturday. 2855 Stevens Creek Blvd., Santa Clara; www.eataly.com/us_en/stores/silicon-valley/